A notorious gambler, a big drinker, blatant, boisterous, laughing – all hallmarks that apply to Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827). The hedonistic tendencies of this great British caricaturist are also the ingredients of his extensive body of work.
Fig.1. Pencil sketch of ‘Thomas Rowlandson‘ (1814) by George Henry Harlow
Financial Disaster
Rowlandson had a troubled youth, his mother died when he was still a child and his father was a doomed investor in trading supplies, frequently on the edge of or into financial disaster. For this reason he spent his early life on the streets where he witnessed public hangings, bull-baiting, cock fights, dog fights, and fist fighting commoners and gentlemen.
Beer and Gin
This is where he learned to drink beer and gin but also got introduced to some of the graceful and enchanting pleasures of the public gardens, and the refinement of horse racing at Ascot.
Fig.2. ‘A man and woman perform on a stage in public. The man balances silverware on his erected member and the woman lifts her dress. A little devil provides musical accompaniment.
Excellent Technician
Although Rowlandson was a very prosperous artist, an excellent technician and a master of drawing, his work was not always of the highest standards. This could have something to do with his somewhat decadent lifestyle (with vast quantities of strong drink and enormous meals) or that he had to pay urgent bills.
Fig.3. ‘A group of sailors make love to some nymphs in a sea cave. One of them is trying to chase away a merman with a giant erection.’
Napoleon
In his artistic life, the prolific Rowlandson produced illustrations for novels, joke books, topographical works, caricatures of prominent figures such as William Pitt the Younger and Napoleon Bonaparte, and erotica. His erotic drawings occupy a key position in his entire work.
Fig.4. ‘A ferocious old man holding a candlestick and a dagger is about to stab the young man making love to his lover. Is she the daughter of the grumpy old man?‘
Lust for Life
But when Rowlandson was at his best his drawings had an immediacy, that breath a robust and fun-inspired lust for life. The English art historian Adolph Paul Oppé (1878-1957) described him as follows:
“He had the eyes to see and the hands to represent, had he so wished; but he had himself neither the emotion nor the sympathy with emotion to allow his figures to produce it by quiet means. He could sometimes raise a laugh without forcing his characters into a grimace, but he had always to make them yell if his representations were to excite horror. All this is what makes him so good, at times so consummate a draughtsman.”
Fig.5. Hand-colored engraving ‘Susanna and the Elders‘
Erotic Expressions
As you have come to expect from us, our focus will be on his erotic expressions in the remaining of the article. Below you can find images from the book ‘The Forbidden Erotica of Thomas Rowlandson 1756-1827‘ by Kurt von Meier…
Fig.6. ‘A man catches his wife who is having sex with a jester. The harlequin is about to hit him with a club. The brass kettle underneath the couple displays a nude couple sitting on the phallus-shaped handles.’
Fig.7. ‘A showgirl serves two quarreling old men at the same time.’ (Source: atherdiscretion.wordpress.com)
Fig.8. ‘The Dairy Maids Delight’ (c.1800). A white woman is sitting on the lap of a black soldier while churning milk.’
Fig.9. ‘The empress of Russia, Catherine the Great uses her own unique method of reviewing her troop of Hussars, whom she employed as bodyguards. One of them in the background has a toilet break.’
Fig.10. ‘Three courtesans amuse themselves with a shy client‘
Fig.11. ‘A young female sporting a feathered hat makes love to a sailor lying on a bench. She is leaning forward while waving to a departing ship through a window. Another couple behind them by a window are also engaged in the act of lovemaking. In the foreground to left, a large dog and table with a tankard and glass; above, a caged bird‘ (Source: British Museum)
Fig.12. Thomas Rowlandson’s “Leda and the Swan” after Michelangelo Buonarroti (Source: Society6)
Fig.13. ‘A man, three women, a horse and a dog urinate on a dirt road.’
Fig.14. ‘A French dance group‘ (late 18th century)
Fig.14. ‘El columpio (In the Swing)‘ (18th century)
Fig.15. ‘Man with harem of five women’
Fig.16. ‘Aroused man with turban watching the women he wished for by means of a magic lamp‘
Fig.17. ‘Elderly male with two young voluptuous women‘
Fig.18. ‘A hunter with red hair is having fun with his lover in the kitchen while his dogs feast on the food‘
Fig.19. ‘Drunken Lovers‘ (1798)
Fig.20. ‘The Connoisseurs‘ (1799)
Fig.21. ‘Nude preacher making love to a nun through the bars‘
Fig.22. ‘In a classical antiques store, a young female embraces an army officer, who draws her into a sarcophagus. The elderly store owner inspects a mummy cases using a monocle. On the floor an open book reads: “Loves of the Gods, embell’d with Cuts‘ (c.1811)
Fig.23. ‘The Covent Garden Night‘ (April 1784)
This satirical etching (Fig.23) is a parody of ‘The Nightmare‘ (1781) by Fuseli. In Rowlandson’s adaptation the woman is replaced by the politician Charles James Fox, who is lying nude, prone on a low bed. One arm is hanging to the floor while the other is above his head. On his breast sits a demon, while a horse with wide-open eyeballs puts its head through draped curtains. The horse, the demon, and the general arrangement are closely copied from Fuseli, in reverse; but the burly nudity of Fox is in complete contrast with his elegant female in pseudo-classical draperies. In Fuseli’s picture is a circular table of classical shape on which are toilet bottles, &c.; on the smaller table beside Fox are a dice-box and dice. [Source: British Museum]
Fig.24. ‘Monk and voluptuous young woman‘ (c.1800)
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